Helga G. Pataki
Helga Geraldine Pataki is a fictional character and the deuteragonist in the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. She is voiced by Francesca Marie Smith. Name The name Helga is of Eastern European descent, which means "holy." In the series, Helga's sister is named Olga, which also means "holy." The names Olga and Helga are variants (respectively, Russian and German) of the same name. Helga's second name is Geraldine, and is a tribute to former Nickelodeon executive Geraldine Laybourne. This has never been mentioned on the show, only referred to by her initial. Her surname Pataki is originally a Hungarian surname, meaning "one who lived by a brook or stream." Personality Helga is something of a tomboy, as evidenced by her interest in playing contact sports alongside her male classmates, blatant lack of femininity, and disregard/dislike for stereotypical female behavior, as seen in the episode "Helga's Makeover". She is also be very cynical, spoiled, and bossy, bullying her 4th-grade classmates with an iron fist, and often taking advantage of her best friend, Phoebe. However, Helga also has a much softer side, which becomes apparent when she is alone and in her school work. She is very emotional, and as such, able to comprehend a spectrum of emotions such as love and hate. This emotional extremity is a running joke throughout the series; although Helga is seen as a "tough girl" by her classmates, she is frequently the first to go into hysterics in times of crisis. Her personality fits that of a tsundere (i.e. showing signs of bipolar disorder). Helga is occassionally clumsy, but also is a genius. In the episode "The Aptitude Test", in which the class takes a standardized exam, it is eventually revealed that she achieved a perfect score on the test and the most outstanding result since her perfectionist sister, Olga Pataki, took the test. Presumably, however, the types of grades she receives on an average basis in school vary from low to high — in the episode "Quantity Time", Helga tells her parents that she failed another math test at school, though in "A Day In The Life Of A Classroom", her teacher Mr. Simmons encourages Helga to help Harold because she received excellent scores on the past two math exams. Her bad grades are most likely caused by her lack of motivation, attention, and academic concern. Helga appears to excel academically in literature classes, as evidenced by Mr. Simmons' constant praise of her literary work though always withholds her name possibly out of respect as she gets embarrassed from when he reads them aloud. Helga displays a remarkable gift for poetry, creating dramatic soliloquies expressing a situation or feeling with a generous use of vocabulary, especially for someone her age. These instances were more simple in the earlier episodes, but as the series progressed, grew in their intensity. Aside from poetry, Helga exhibits further aspects of cultural experience, being able to identify the work of Edward Hopper and make reference to George Orwell's 1984 in "Helga on the Couch". Helga's catch word is "criminy" (she apparently picked it from her father). Her hair looks like brooms and she has a monobrow. She is allergic to strawberries (see "Quantity Time"), to which she breaks out in hives. Relationships With Peers Helga is regarded by most of her peers as a bully. She makes rude remarks and does not hesitate to use or threaten physical force to get her way, which intimidates many of her classmates. She even gave her fists names: "Ol' Betsy" and "The Five Avengers" (although she and the other characters have four fingers). Helga is also extremely spoiled when it comes to Phoebe doing favors things for her and material possesions as seen in Arnold's Christmas when she wants tons of expensive gifts and in the movie when she looks in a magazine for tons of very expensive stuff. Apparently, some of Helga's misery might be Harold's fault as well. Arnold Helga is secretly in love with Arnold, despite the fact that she is constantly teasing him and calling him names (usually "Football Head", in reference to his rather oddly shaped head). Various episodes have her going to the extreme to prevent her secret from being exposed. One such example is the episode "Helga Blabs it All" in which, under the influence of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) from a dental filling, she leaves a love declaration on Arnold’s answering machine. After beating up and taking the clothes of a Campfire Lass (equivalent to Girl Scouts of the USA), she pretends to be selling chocolate turtles in order to gain entry to Arnold's house and steal the tape before he can hear it. In one of the show's most noteworthy episodes, "Helga on the Couch", she actually discusses her obsession with the school psychiatrist. Herein it is revealed her limerence towards Arnold is the result of transference; where her family relationships were weak, Helga subsequently transferred all feelings of love towards the one person who fulfilled her idea of care, Arnold. This is revealed by a flashback in which during Helga's first day of pre-school, her family seemed to completely ignore her existence, forcing her to make the trek to school alone in the rain and mud. Upon arriving at school, it is Arnold who offers her a helping hand as well as gives her his snack time crackers when Harold takes hers, and true kindness. Helga confesses her love after being caught helping Arnold, by Arnold, in Hey Arnold!: The Movie though the two both agree afterward that it was in the heat of the moment. Although apparently, Arnold knew it wasn't. It is also sometimes proved that Arnold has strong feelings for Helga. Events in episodes like "Married", with Arnold's nightmare of married life climaxing with a heartfelt attempt by the dream Helga to express her love, also implies he has as much trouble as Helga has coming to terms with how deep his feelings are. The show's producer, Craig Bartlett, revealed during an Internet chat that had the second movie, The Jungle Movie (which was planned but never produced), been made, Arnold would have realized he and Helga were meant for each other, and finally reciprocated her feelings. However, Craig Barlett confirmed that they do get married and they do get together in the future. Although Helga has acknowledged her feelings regarding Arnold, she opts to keep them private by publicly denying and rejecting Arnold through displays of verbal abuse. It is suggested in various episodes that Helga treats Arnold as such due to her fear that revealing her true feelings would cause her embarrassment and humiliation. In "Helga on the Couch", Helga also expresses her fear of being rejected by Arnold. Brainy In contrast to Helga's feelings towards Arnold, she is almost always followed by Brainy in each episode, where he is right behind her, breathing very hard (usually after one of Helga's emotional monologues). Though it's apparent that he is in love with Helga, she never returns the feelings as mutual; on scant occasions, she has kissed him due to something going right for her. Usually every encounter with Brainy has Helga punching him between the eyes, which became a running gag for the series — indeed, in one episode in which Helga believed she had lost contact with her emotions and simply responded casually to Brainy and left, he became nervous and ended up punching himself. Lila Sawyer Helga is very jealous of Lila Sawyer, who is the object of Arnold's affections in Season 3's "Arnold & Lila" and onwards. Unlike Helga, Lila displays indiscriminating compassion, wit, and stylishness — all qualities Helga outwardly lacks. The two do not get along very well from Helga's perspective. Helga's jealousy of Lila worsens when Olga "adopts" Lila in a "big sisters" program in the episode "Big Sis". However, she was able to figure out that Helga was in love with Arnold during the play of Romeo & Juliet, where she noticed Helga desperately wanted to play Juliet when Arnold was selected to play Romeo. She gets Helga to confess to her of those feelings, which she does, and allows her to take her place as Juliet (which leads Helga to take full advantage of the death kiss scene, kissing him for a full minute). She also helped Helga act more kind towards others, though disregarded this advice after Arnold accidentally called her Lila. Phoebe Heyerdahl Phoebe Heyerdahl is Helga's best friend. The conflict between Phoebe's quieter, less demanding personality and Helga's more aggressive one occasionally emerges in episodes such as "Hall Monitor", "Pre-Teen Scream", and "Phoebe Breaks a Leg". Phoebe often follows Helga around, taking down notes and appearing more as an assistant rather than a friend to Helga. However, the two do care about each other, as they listen to each other's concerns and help each other out. Phoebe knows about Helga's love for Arnold and is understanding of Helga's rocky relationship with her family. A running gag throughout the series is when Helga says something embarrassing, she orders Phoebe to forget what she just said, which leads Phoebe to cheerfully state "forgetting". Appearance Like the other characters on the show, Helga's attire rarely changes: she usually wears a pink dress with a red stripe over a white shirt and a large pink bow in her hair. She has bright, blonde hair, which she wears in long pigtails without any visible hair ties, and a black unibrow. She has made some appearances in other outfits, though: throughout the show's run, she has dressed up as a French girl, a hall monitor, a sophisticated lady, and others (see /Screenshots/ section). In the pilot and clay animation shorts, Helga's outfit consists of a dark pink dress with sleeves and a white collar. During Helga's dream in the episode "Married", Arnold says this about Helga's eyes, indicating that Helga has blue eyes: "Your eyes are like two diamonds, shining brightly at mist of sky of pale blue heaven." Family Helga has a very dysfunctional family. Her parents are neglectful and do not pay attention to her in a majority of the episodes. However, two episodes that feature Helga getting attention from her parent's are "Quantity Time" and in "The Beeper Queen". The only family member that gives her attention is her perfectionist sister, Olga. Helga also received attention from her family when she went missing during the Thanksgiving Special. It is heavily suggested that Helga's home situation is the root cause of her anti-social behavior. Robert "Big Bob" Pataki Her father, a successful pager salesman who suffers from workaholism, rarely notices her existence, favoring her over-achieving, neurotic college-aged sister Olga, who Helga rarely gets along with. Helga refers to him as "Bob" or "Big Bob," indicating she does not really see him as her father as he is a horrible one. He never listens to Helga and sometimes hits her. Big Bob does pay more attention to Helga when city contests occur, but only for selfish things or to make Helga to become a copy of Olga. In "Spelling Bee", Big Bob has much pride in his family name, pushing Helga to win the trophy that belongs to all of the Patakis. In most episodes, Big Bob will prefer to watch television over listening to Helga, absentmindedly calling her "Olga" instead. He sometimes calls her "the girl" instead of her full name, another evidence of rarely noticing her. Although Big Bob is far more boorish in personality, he and Helga share some similarities that occasionally bond them. Both enjoy wrestling, ridiculing melodramatic theater, bullying, and eating. They also share similar speaking patterns, though Helga possesses a better command of language. Helga is deeply resentful of Big Bob's excessive attention to Olga. * Bob and Helga both have a unibrow * Miriam sometimes refers to him as "B" Miriam Pataki Her mother, Miriam, often gives off hints of being an alcoholic: by being depressed, forgetful, struggling to stay conscious, and frequently drinking "smoothies" and "coffee." Helga also refers to her mother as "Miriam" and relates poorly to her. Though apathetic at home, it is suggested in multiple episodes that Miriam is capable, but stunted by her marriage to an overbearing Big Bob Pataki. In "Olga Gets Engaged", Miriam advises Olga not to make the same marital mistake she did, and in "Road Trip", Miriam reveals that she used to be a rodeo queen. Miriam's abilities are showcased in "The Beeper Queen", where she fills in for Big Bob at his Beeper Emporium when he must stay home due to a back injury. Miriam packs Helga an exceptionally nutritious lunch, shares stories and listens to Helga, and helps Helga with her homework — all implying that Miriam is held back by her unemployment and marriage to Big Bob, affecting Helga's own upbringing. Olga Pataki Olga is Helga's older sister and suffers from perfectionism. She and Helga do not relate to each other well, causing great conflict and resentment between the two (much of the resentment is exerted by Helga, for Olga doesn't seem to resent her little sister at all). Helga is jealous of Olga's image of perfection and the attention she receives from both of their parents, Big Bob and Miriam. Olga is kind to Helga, but Helga does not respond to her kindness because she feels it is insincere, as Olga does not listen to Helga's more serious concerns about their family and relationship. Olga condescends to Helga, calling her "baby sister" and refusing to address the problems in their family. Olga admitted to Helga in the midst of a severe breakdown that their parents constant adulation and favoritism affect her at least as severely as they do Helga and expresses a desire to be ignored and free the way her sister is. However, throughout the series the sibling relationship is primarily seen from Helga's point of view. * In the episode, "Helga on the Couch", she has a flashback to when she was asking her family who would take her to preschool. In the flashback, she is ignored because they are too absorbed into the piano music that Olga is playing. During this time, Miriam says "Can you believe her? Olga, only fifteen years old and already a piano concertist and class valedictorian!" It can be assumed that Olga is approximately 10–12 years older than Helga. * Although Helga at one time says Olga attends Bennington College, it is discovered in the episode "Olga Comes Home" that she attends Wellington College. However, there is a Bennington College in the U.S.A. located in Vermont. * In the episode "Spelling Bee", Bob tries to encourage Helga to win the spelling bee. By doing that, he tells her how Olga won the city spelling bee. He tells Helga that Olga had to spell the word "qualm" and nailed it by remembering the silent letter "l". Bob then tells Helga that that was Olga's first big win and that after that she won more contests and earned so many trophies that the room as time went on became nearly full of trophies. He then shows Helga an empty space on the shelf and tells her that it is reserved for her own spelling bee trophy. Initially Helga intends to win the spelling bee. But when she finds out that her dad bribed Arnold, she intentionally forfeits the spelling bee. * In the episode "Big Sis", it is evident that Olga and Lila Sawyer have similar personalities and interests. There were some episodes where Helga expressed some affection and concern for Olga. Those episodes were: * "Student Teacher" - In this episode, Olga came home for spring break and surprises Helga by showing up one morning at her school, P.S. 118, to announce that she will be the new student teacher and decided not to move to Alaska. Throughout the episode, Helga tries to get Olga into trouble but everything backfires. At one point, Helga unbeknownst to Olga, gave her car a flat tire and was annoyed when Olga met her on the bus the following morning. Everything then escalates when Olga reveals to Helga's classmates that she was a bed-wetter until the age of 8. But it's not until Arnold convinces Helga to have a talk with her sister that she actually does so. During the talk, Helga tells a surprised and perplexed Olga that things were not working out. She tells Olga that the further away she is, the closer they will be. In the end, Olga moves to Alaska to continue as a student teacher. Later in the episode, Helga receives a letter from Olga and begins writing back. Initially Helga signs her letter with the word "From" but after looking at a picture of Olga, she crosses out "From" and signs "Love, Helga." * "Big Sis" - Olga returns home from college and tells Helga that she joined a Big Sisters, Big Brothers program. Helga is thrilled to hear this because that means that Olga will be preoccupied with some other child. However, Helga is not happy when that child turns out to be classmate Lila Sawyer. For most of the episode, Helga secretly ruins Olga and Lila's plans. At the end of the episode, Helga approaches Olga and admits that she is jealous of her relationship with Lila. A touched Olga reassures Helga that she will always be her "baby sis" and that they have a strong bond that only real sisters have that can't be broken. * "Olga Gets Engaged" - Is an episode in which Olga comes home for spring break and announces to her family that she is engaged to Doug LeSham who turns out to be a con man/pathological liar. Helga is amused by the idea of Olga marrying Doug LeSham because that would mean that Olga would fall from grace with their parents. But on the day of Olga's wedding, Helga catches Doug talking to another woman on the phone and knows that he is not faithful. Helga confronts Doug and begins intervening on Olga's behalf. She threatens to press the redial button to spill the news of his marriage to the other woman. Doug panics and Helga tells him to leave basically saying that she'll tie up the loose ends. Upon hearing that, Doug leaves. Helga then writes a note to Olga and signs it with Doug's name saying that he got cold feet. Trivia and Facts * In the episode "Quantity Time", Helga tells Bob that she is allergic to strawberries and that if she eats them, they will give her hives. * Helga is similar to a character from Teacher's Pet. They both bully the main character but secretly have romantic feelings for them. * In "School Play ", Helga's mother, Miriam, yells into her bedroom and asks her if she remembered to take her constipation medicine in which Helga responds with a yes. This occurs around 18:50 in the show. * According to Sheena in "Phoebe Skips", Helga has a gastrointestinal disorder. * In "Student Teacher", Olga tells Mr. Simmons' students a story about a little girl who was a bedwetter overcame her problem. It is at the end of the story that Olga reveals to the students that the story was about Helga, who was a bedwetter until the age of 7. * In an episode of The Angry Beavers ("Dumbwaiters") the beavers once showed Helga Pataki's mask within a set of scary masks. * Every time Helga signs her name on something that outwardly states her feelings to Arnold, it always ends up in Arnold's hands, leading her to take extreme measures to get it back or destroy it. * Helga has broken into the boarding house 7 times. ("The Little Pink Book", "Helga Blabs it All", "Helga's Parrot", "Helga Sleepwalks" (twice), "Helga's Locket" (twice)) * Youtuber Bo Burnham mentions Helga Pataki in a line of his song "words, words, words." * From the show itself or comments from Craig Bartlett, it is affirmed that only four Hey Arnold! characters currently know of Helga's huge crush on Arnold. These four characters are: Dr. Bliss, Phoebe, Lila and Brainy. Helga has told Dr. Bliss, Phoebe and Lila her secret, but Brainy most likely knows because he stalks her. Phil speculates that Helga has a crush on Arnold, and this is most apparent in the episode "Girl Trouble". * Helga said in the episode "Arnold's Valentine" that she likes a man who's honest "love-wise" (possibly because she doesn't want to end up with a dysfunctional family, namely like Bob and Miriam.) * Even though she wants a family who would pay attention to her, when they do she mostly tends to brush it off or isolate herself (by saying that they're either embarrassing or making her miserable.) * Though Helga is mostly a tomboy, she has been shown to be feminine at times. * Helga may be mean, but whenever the situation is right, she can be characterized as caring, deep, and serious towards the people she's close to like Phoebe, Arnold when (she disguised herself as Cecille), Olga (once in a while) and her parents (to some extent). * In the episode "April Fool's Day", Arnold mentioned (when giving a gag present to Helga) that Helga's birthday was "last week," which means that her birthday falls on a day between March 19 and March 31 (and makes her an Aries). In the fandom the average date, March 25, is often considered Helga's birthday. Another likely date is March 26 (1985), Francesca Smith's birthday. * Helga seems to be a fan of Nancy Spumoni clothing and other items. Nancy Spumoni is a loose parody of Roxy clothing. * A Disney character, Isabella Garcia-Shapiro from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb, has a similar outfit to Helga Pataki's. * In the episode "The Aptitude Test", the tests are accidentally mixed up. But when the teacher Mr. Simmons clears things up, it is eventually revealed that Helga Pataki received the highest score since her sister Olga attended P.S. 118. * Grandpa sometimes calls her "your ugly friend with the one eyebrow." (in reference to her monobrow). * In the episode Girl Trouble, Grandpa tells Arnold that he sometimes sees Helga skipping rope outside of the boarding house, waiting for Arnold to come out. "The Patakis" Spin-off Series : Main article: The Patakis The Patakis is a planned spin-off series based on Hey Arnold! which was originally intended to be aired on Nick at Nite. The series focuses on the life of Helga Pataki in her teenage years, her family, and classmates. Structured like The Simpsons, three acts in one half hour, Craig Bartlett wrote a pilot script with Michelle Lamoreaux in 2000. However, Nick rejected it as "too dark" for the network's target audience. The series was then offered to MTV but they declined it, as it was too similar to Daria, which didn't do too well in the ratings.The Unofficial Rugrats Online, Nicktoons Rejects. Some information about The Patakis has leaked through Craig Bartlett's chats and interviews. Most of the kids from Hey Arnold are in The Patakis except for Arnold who has moved away, making Helga the star of the series. Appears in *24 Hours To Live *A Day In The Life Of A Classroom *April Fool's Day *Arnold (pilot episode) *Arnold & Lila *Arnold as Cupid (No cues) *Arnold Betrays Iggy *Arnold Visits Arnie *Arnold's Christmas *Arnold's Halloween *Arnold's Hat *Arnold's Thanksgiving *Arnold's Valentine *Beaned *Best Friends (No cues) *Best Man *Big Bob's Crisis *Big Caesar *Big Sis *Biosquare *Buses, Bikes, and Subways *Career Day *Coach Wittenberg *Cool Jerk *Cool Party *Crabby Author *Crush On Teacher *Curly Snaps *Curly's Girl *Dangerous Lumber *Das Subway *Deconstructing Arnold *Dinner for Four *Downtown As Fruits *Eating Contest *Egg Story *Eugene's Bike *Eugene's Birthday *Eugene's Pet *Eugene, Eugene! *False Alarm *Field Trip *Gerald's Secret *Gerald's Tonsils *Ghost Bride *Girl Trouble *Grand Prix *Grudge Match *Hall Monitor *Harold's Bar Mitzvah *Haunted Train *Heat *Helga vs. Big Patty *Helga And The Nanny *Helga Blabs It All *Helga on the Couch *Helga Sleepwalks *Helga's Boyfriend *Helga's Locket *Helga's Love Potion *Helga's Makeover *Helga's Masquerade *Helga's Parrot *Helga's Show *Hey Arnold!: The Movie *Hey Harold! *It Girl *Longest Monday *Love And Cheese *Magic Show *Married *Monkey Business *Monkeyman! *Ms. Perfect *Mudbowl *New Bully on the Block *New Teacher *Olga Comes Home *Olga Gets Engaged *Operation Ruthless *Parents Day *Part Time Friends *Phoebe Breaks A Leg *Phoebe Cheats *Phoebe Skips *Phoebe Takes the Fall *Phoebe's Little Problem *Pigeon Man *Pre-Teen Scream *Principal Simmons *Quantity Time *Rhonda Goes Broke *Rhonda's Glasses *Rich Kid *Road Trip *Roller Coaster *Roughin' It *Runaway Float *Sally's Comet *Save The Tree *School Dance *School Play *Sid And Germs *Snow *Spelling Bee *Stinky Goes Hollywood *Student Teacher *Summer Love *Teachers' Strike *The Aptitude Test *The Baseball *The Beeper Queen *The Big Scoop *The Flood *The High Life *The Journal *The Little Pink Book *The Pig War *The Sewer King *The Vacant Lot *Weird Cousin *What's Opera, Arnold? *Wheezin' Ed *World Records See also * Helga's poetry * Gallery of Helga's screenshots * How to draw Helga Pataki References External links * Alsace Solamo, "Toontime: Helga Geraldine Pataki," Sun Star Kidsters (March 11, 2007). * "Helga G. Pataki (and family)", a Hey Arnold! Character & Episode Guide. * Helga Geraldine Pataki's IMDb profile Pataki, Helga Geraldine Pataki, Helga Geraldine Pataki, Helga Geraldine Pataki, Helga Geraldine Category:Heroes Category:Neutral Characters Category:Villains Category:Characters with Monobrows